Celebrate!

Survival Happens!

This is on my key chain. My sister gave it to me quite a few years ago. She is a professional masseuse, and was working in a chiropractor's office where these plastic skeletal spine with pelvis were available for patients if they wanted them. 

The part that is painted red is the part of my pelvis that was surgically removed in 1968 due to a rare bone cancer called chondrosarcoma. I carry the key chain with me to show to new medical personnel in order to explain part of my medical history. It clarifies the extent of my internal hemipelvectomy. I keep it clipped onto my purse. Sometimes, just in the normal aspects of life, someone will notice it and comment on it. I take that as an opportunity to give a short message. I survived cancer when it was believed I would not survive. I want others to know to not give up hope. If they, or someone they love, gets a diagnosis of cancer, it doesn't mean the end of life.